For thousands of years, human beings have looked down on their emotions. We?ve seen them as primitive passions, the unfortunate legacy of our animal past. When we do stupid things ? say, eating too much cake, or sleeping with the wrong person, or taking out a subprime mortgage ? we usually blame our short-sighted feelings. People commit crimes of passion. There are no crimes of rationality.This bias against feeling has led people to assume that reason is always best. When faced with a difficult dilemma, most of us believe that it?s best to carefully assess our options and spend a few moments consciously deliberating the information. Then, we should choose the alternative that best fits our preferences. This is how we maximize utility; rationality is our Promethean gift.But what if this is all backwards? What if our emotions know more than we know? What if our feelings are smarter than us?